Growing Herbs Indoors

Hi Im Tricia an organic gardener and I grow organically for a healthy and safe food supply for a clean and sustainable environment for an enjoyable and rewarding experience Are you longing for a taste of summer in the winter grow herbs indoors its easy I'll show you how The hardest part about growing herbs indoors is getting sufficient light if herbs don't get six to eight hours of direct light they can get leggy and they don't taste as good Often you'll get enough light from a south or south west facing window if you keep your plants in the window sill be sure and turn them every couple days towards the sun if it's not enough light its easy to supplement with a little bit of fluorescent A grow light like this jump-start system is a great way to supplement with fluorescent it takes two hours of fluorescent lighting to make up for one hour of sunlight The light should be five to twelve inches above the plant The best kind of pots are six inches and either wood bamboo or clay because they're breathable I like these pots made of bamboo and plant fibers there sustainable and they're attractive Use a good quality light potting mix like our Peaceful Valley potting soil it doesn't hurt to add in some pumice or perlite to a standard potting mix for some extra drainage Some favorites for growing indoors are basil chervil chives oregano parsley sage mint bay rosemary thyme lemon balm and tarragon You can grow herbs from seed or cuttings herbs like sage lavender oregano rosemary and tarragon grow very well from cuttings others like basil parsley chives they do great from seed Take cuttings from August to October and root them for a supply of herbs through the winter Check out our blog on how to root cuttings if you're growing from seed moisten your potting soil fill your pot plant a couple seeds in each pot and cover with more moistened potting soil keep the soil moist but not wet Herbs don't need a lot of fertilizer but every couple of weeks they can benefit from a low dosage of a water-soluble fertilizer like this liquid fish During the winter heating months indoors might be a little dry for your herbs to make up for the dryness you can mist them every once in a while or place a saucer with gravel in water underneath the pot Water herbs regularly but be careful not to overwater water when the soil starts to dry out herbs like bay marjoram oregano sage and tyme like to dry out between waterings rosemary is one that should never be allowed to dry out completely If you're really into growing herbs and veggies indoors you might wanna try a vertical growing system like this Foodie The Foodie allows you to grow several levels of plants in two square feet of floor space one of the cool things about the foodie is that you can rotate it to make sure the plants get good light exposure when growing in a window It can be watered by hand or easily adapted to water automatically with a pump and timer Whether your growing three pots in a window sill or your growing with a Foodie grow some herbs and grow organic for life